Police have dropped charges against a man who asked a Muslim woman to 'explain Brussels'

Police charged Matthew
Doyle, 46, with a public order offence on
Friday.Twitter/Matthew
Doyle

Charges against a man accused of posting tweets likely to stir up
racial hatred have been dropped, Scotland Yard has said.

Police charged Matthew Doyle, 46, with a public order offence on
Friday amid allegations that he tweeted about confronting a
Muslim woman to ask her to "explain Brussels."

But officers admitted later the same day that the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) disagreed with their decision, adding
that they did not have the legal power to bring the charges in
the first place.

A statement released by police in the early hours of Friday
morning said Doyle had been “charged under section 19 of the
Public Order Act 1986; publishing or distributing written
material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, likely or
intended to stir up racial hatred”.

It added: “This follows an investigation by officers at Croydon
police community safety unit.” The statement said he was due to
appear in court on Saturday.

But, late on Friday night, the Metropolitan police released a
second statement saying that Doyle was “no longer charged with
the offence and will not be appearing at court”.

It said: “Police may not make charging decisions on offences
under Section 19 of the Public Order Act. There will be further
consultation with CPS.”

The CPS guidance says that people “can only be prosecuted [under
that section of the act] with consent of attorney general.” It
adds that the case must be “referred to CPS’s counter-terrorism
division to be dealt with by specialist prosecutor”.

The offence carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

Doyle, a partner at a south London-based talent and PR agency,
was arrested in Croydon on Wednesday after posting a series of
tweets.

This article was written by Kevin Rawlinson from The Guardian and was legally
licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.